


Holey Potter

by OnceAndFuturePrat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 23:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19095283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndFuturePrat/pseuds/OnceAndFuturePrat
Summary: 'He'd sworn to protect George...'What did Remus think when George lost his ear? How did he react, and how did he feel when he realised what had happened?





	Holey Potter

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form. That all belongs to JK Rowling. This is just my lil twist :)

"The other one- George or Fred or whoever you are- you're with Remus." George, disguised as Harry, made eye contact with Remus, and the two exchanged a smile. Remus didn't mind having George with him. He was cheerful, yet serious when required. He was a strong fighter, and loyal to his friends. Remus stood to the side as the Seven Potters, including the real Harry, got changed into identical t-shirts, jeans, socks, trainers and jacket. Remus couldn't help but smile slightly as the lack of dignity they showed for Harry's body. Everyone grabbed fake luggage, the real Harry grabbing his real luggage, then headed out. Remus was halfway to his broomstick before he realised he was missing George. Turning back towards the house, he saw Arthur standing just outside the front door. He walked up to him, intending to ask where George was, but that was before he saw two Harry's locked in a tight embrace. They were whispering to each other, but Remus couldn't catch what they were saying. Confused, he turned to Arthur. "Is that Fred and George?" Arthur nodded. Remus was shocked slightly. He'd never seen any of the twins express any form of serious, loving emotion. To see them, even polyjuiced as Harry, fiercely embracing each other, was strange. Looking around, everyone was mounting their transport. Heading inside the landing, he slowly walked up to the twins. "... need to keep safe. Promise me, Freddie." Remus halted in his tracks. George was speaking in a broken whisper. "I promise. And you need to do whatever it takes to get to safety. Swear on it, George." George nodded into Fred's neck. Waking up from his trance, Remus laid a hand on each of the twin's shoulders. They all but jumped apart, but relaxed slightly at the sight of Remus' calm face. "It's time to go." He said simply. Fred and George nodded and the three of them headed out, Fred and George saying another hasty, whispered goodbye before walking over to their respective brooms. Remus walked over to Fred. "Fred, listen to me." Fred turned to face him. "I solemnly swear to you-" Fred smirked slightly. Remus returned it. "-that I will bring George back. Alive, safe, and in one piece. I swear to you, he'll barely get a scratch." Fred nodded.   
"Thanks. Just- just please keep him alive." He pleaded. Remus nodded, then headed back over to his own broom. "Please be careful with that, Hagrid." Remus heard Arthur say. "I'm still not sure that was advisable and it's certainly only to be used in emergencies."   
"All right then," Moody growled. "Everybody ready, please; I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost. Remus, George, Arthur and Fred mounted their brooms. "You're both going to make it, George. Safe, alive, and in one piece." Remus said soothingly, as he felt George hands shake, wrapped around Remus' waist. He heard George hum in response. "Hold tight, now, Ron." Tonks said. God, Remus hoped she'd be ok. If he lost Tonks- no. He couldn't think that way. He can't let himself get distracted. Ron threw him a furtive, guilty sort of look, then wrapped his arms around Tonks' waist, amusing Remus. Hagrid kicker his motorbike into life. "Good luck, everyone," shouted Mad-Eye. George held on to Remus tighter as Mad-Eye spoke. "See you all in about an hour at The Burrow. On the count of three. One..." Remus felt George grip his waist still tighter. "... two..." Remus gripped the handle of the broom so hard his knuckles turned white. He'd keep George safe... he'd deliver him to Fred alive. "... THREE." Hagrid's motorbike soared into the air. Remus kicked hard off of the ground. For a Quidditch player, George seemed to be pretty frightened, holding onto Remus for dear life. Although, Remus knew George's fear had nothing to do with the flying. Remus' hair whipped back from his face, Thestrals soared past him as they hurtled towards the sky. Remus saw Arthur and Fred fly past them, and George loosened his grip ever so slightly...

Bang. There were thirty of them, hooded, cloaked figures, spells flying in every direction. Flashes, bangs and explosions coming from everywhere. "Oh, crap!" Remus shouted, taking his wand from the pocket of his robes as he felt George remove a hand to do the same. "Stupefy!" He roared, aiming his wand at he nearest Death Eater. It missed. "Reducto! Stupefy!" He heard George shout. Remus tried to aim his wand again, but almost lost grip of the broom. "George!" He shouted over the bangs and crashes of spells. "George, you'll have to fight them, I can't or we'll fall!" George groaned, but didn't argue. Remus tried to focus on steering, but then a Death Eater flew right in front of them. "Stupefy!" Remus yelled, chancing flying one-handed. The spell caught the Death Eater's hood, and it slipped. "SNAPE!" Remus roared, aiming another curse at the ex-Potions Professor, but Snape had already flown away behind him.

Remus had no idea where anyone else was. There were Death Eaters and spells everywhere. They were ambushed, surrounded. Whenever he dared to, Remus aimed a hex or curse at a Death Eater. Another hood slipped, and he recognised his face... Rowle. "Avada Kedavra!" He shouted, surprising even himself. Remus saw the jet of green light erupt from the end of his wand, but he didn't know if it made contact. Rowle had disappeared. Remus couldn't see how many Death Eaters were following them, but George was putting up a good fight. "Stupefy! Reducto! Everte Stratum! Tallentalegra! Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!" Remus heard him shout over and over again, jets of multicoloured light streaming out of the end of his wand at a rapid pace. "Remus, there's too many of them!" George shouted. Remus chanced a glance over his shoulder, there were six hooded figures, and one none-hooded figure. "George, be careful, that's Snape!" Remus called to the Weasley, who began taking the defensive. "Protego! Protego maxima! Remus, I can't fight them!" Remus' heart lurched at the uncharacteristic fear in George's voice. 

Remus was about to turn his head again, when George let out a gut-wrenching, ear-piercing scream of sheer agony. "GEORGE! GEORGE, WHAT HAPPENED?" Remus bellowed, but there was no explanation needed. Snape hurtled past them, along with the other six Death Eaters that had been tailing them. Remus felt something warm and wet spatter his face. "Sectumsempra." He murmured. Rage and hatred filled Remus to boiling point as George let out another pained-filled scream, openly sobbing, but it faded away... George was slipping. Remus threw an arm behind him to keep an unconscious George on the broom. "George! George, wake up! George!" George was slipping, Remus had to keep switching hands to keep him in place. He grabbed a fistful of George's jacket and gripped it vice-like, praying no more Death Eaters were going to ambush them. That's when he saw them, Bill and Fleur-Harry on a Thestral at two o'clock. Remus saw Bill look behind him, watched as his scarred face turned pale at the sight of his younger brother, bleeding profusely. Remus could see the contemplation in Bill's eyes, but even Remus knew there was no way he could safely help. Fleur-Harry was firing spell after spell at nothingness, Remus didn't recognise them, so he assumed hey were French design. Bill turned his head defiantly forwards once again, and the Thestral soared into the distance. Remus was struggling to keep George on the broom. They were flying for another ten minutes before George woke up with a slight scream. "George! George, you need to stay awake!" Remus said. George halted his scream, then collapsed against Remus. "I'm... trying." He said, barely above a whisper. Remus felt his neck get coated in blood. God, George had lost so much of the stuff. Remus let of of George's jacket as he felt arms weakly wrap themselves around his waist. "Hurts... Remus, it hurts." George said, his voice shaking. Remus felt a lump in his throat but he quickly swallowed it, remembering his sworn promise to Fred. "You're going to live. We'll get to Kingsley's place, take the Portkey, and you'll be safe. Alive. I promise." Remus felt George shaking as hooded figures loomed out of the distance. George swore, so did Remus. Remus lifted his wand, aiming it at the closest Death Eater. "Sectumsempra!" He bellowed. Blue light shot out of his wand, hitting the Death Ester squarely in the chest. He screamed, then fell backwards off of his broom. George tensed. "Remus... gonna... pass out." Remus gripped George's wrists with his free hand, completely letting go of the broom. "George, no! Stay awake, George, stay awake!" He felt George nod slowly, but he was slipping. Remus looked to his right, and he saw it. A flash, just a flash, but it gave enough information for Remus to know who it was. Bright red eyes, snake-like slits for nostrils... Lord Voldemort had joined the fight. 

Remus ducked to avoid jets of green light, grabbing the broom handle with his wand hand. "Stupefy!" He shouted, straightening up. George was slumped against him, barely conscious. The Death Eater fell off his broom, stunned by Remus' spell. 

At long last, Remus saw Kingsley's house in the distance as he aimed a killing curse at a Death Eater he recognised as Augustus Rookwood. It missed, but Rookwood vanished from sight as they crossed the protective barriers surrounding the house. Landing with a small splash in the wet grass, Remus helped George off of the broom. "Come on, we have to get to the portkey." George nodded weakly, his face extremely pale. Remus felt the colour drain out of his own face. George was missing an ear. Merlin, what was he going to say to Fred? Remus supported George all the way to the empty house, finding the broken plate Kingsley had told them was the portkey. They had about thirty seconds. Remus was struggling to support George's weight. He placed George's right hand on the plate, then placed his own forefinger next to it. "Ten, nine, eight..." George's face was covered in blood. It had stained both his and Remus' clothes a deep scarlet colour. "... seven, six, five..." The hole in George's head refused to stop bleeding. "... four, three, two..." what was he going to tell Fred? "...one." A jerk behind the navel, like a hook on the end of a fisherman's line. Remus gripped George as they spun towards The Burrow, but George kept slipping out of Remus' grip. Remus landed on his feet, but George's dead weight almost made his knees buckle. Remus saw Harry- or imposter Harry, grab George's legs, relieving some of the weight. They carried George into the living room. Remus heard people speaking, but he didn't acknowledge them. He grabbed 'Harry' and dragged him roughly into the kitchen. He heard Hagrid protest, but ignored him.

"What creature sat in the corner, the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" He said, shaking Harry slightly. "Answer me!" He demanded.   
"A-a Grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?" Harry said. Remus released him. "Wha' was tha' about?" Hagrid roared. Remus looked at Harry. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check." He said tersely. "We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been and imposter." Harry nodded. 

Time past in relative discomfort and anxiety. Remus had lectured Harry on why he shouldn't be using Expelliarmus anymore, been questioned by Kingsley when arrived back with Hermione, let out a bit of his anger at the mass Azkaban breakout the Ministry had hushed up, and very briefly explained to Hermione and Harry that it was Snape who had cursed off George's ear. Now, with most people inside and the rest a fair bit of distance away from him, Remus was lost in thought. What if Molly couldn't regrow George's ear? What if the bleeding wouldn't stop? What if only Snape knew the counter-curse? What if it was he, Remus, who was the cause of Fred and George no longer being identical? Remus felt guilty. He had sworn to protect George, to return him alive and in one piece. Now, though, a piece of the Weasley Twin was laying somewhere in a muggle town, where anyone could find it, not knowing it was the ear of a man who fought so bravely, even after losing his ear. A shout woke him from his thoughts. "Hey! Get back here!" It was Kingsley. Remus ran over to them, to find Arthur and Fred appearing to be struggling against Kingsley and Hagrid. "Let go of me you slimy git! I-want-to-see-my-twin!" Fred's voice was full of fear. Remus stood watching for a few seconds, before the Weasley's broke free, hurrying towards the house. "Hey, Weasley, get back here, we've been betrayed!" Kingsley shouted, but neither Fred nor Arthur listened. "I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!" Arthur said, pointing his wand threateningly at Kingsley before striding quickly into the house, Fred in tow. Remus followed them. Glancing behind him, Fred caught Remus' eye. Remus looked away, ashamed of betraying Fred. Fred was unnaturally pale, and uncharacteristically speechless. It was the first time since Remus had known him that Fred had been lost for words. He merely gaped over the back of the sofa at George's still-bleeding wound, mouth open slightly. The air was filled with tension, Remus thought that, like him, most people thought Fred was about to cry. The redhead swallowed hard as George was roused by the sound of the kerfuffle outside. "How do you feel, Georgie?" Molly asked, stroking a strand of flaming hair out of George's face. Remus saw Fred gulp. "Saint-like." Remus barely heard George speak, and his stomach lurched. Saint-like? Fred, if possible, paled even further, looking nothing but terrified. "What's wrong with him?" He croaked. "Is his mind affected?" Remus felt like he was about to throw up. No. No, please no. "Saint-like." George repeated, slowly opening his eyes and looking up at his twin brother. "You see... I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?" He said, smiling slightly and pointing at the hole in his head. Molly sobbed harder, and colour flooded Fred's face. Remus relaxed. George is going to be ok. "Pathetic." Fred said to George, now also smiling a lopsided smile. "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humour before you, you go for holey?" He said, visibly relaxing at the joke. Remus had to admire the way the twins dealt with things like this. "Ah well." George said, now looking at his mother. "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum." With a sharp pang, Remus remembered the weak, pained, frail voice George had during the flight, and the agony-filled scream that had ripped itself from George's throat. A scream he will never forget. 

The night droned on. News of Mad-Eye's Death has left an icy chill upon The Burrow's residents. Then there was another fiasco when Harry attempted to leave, leading to an argument but he eventually stayed, striding out into the garden, followed shortly by Ron and Hermione. It was a few minutes after this that Remus walked over to the Fred and George. "Hey guys, sorry to interrupt. Fred, could I have a word?" He glanced around at the many occupants of the tiny living room. "In private?" Fred half-glanced at George, but remus gave him a pointed look that Fred seemed to understand. He grabbed George's hand. "I'll be back soon." He said, then followed Remus into the tiny kitchen. "What's up, Moony?" Fred asked, sitting on the countertop. Remus felt a lump in his throat, but refused to let it expand any further. Nevertheless, his voice shook when he spoke. "Fred, I- I'm sorry, ok? I promised that I would return George in one peace, I swore to you I would and now- now he's missing and ear and-!" Fred jumped off the top and laid his hands on Remus' shoulders, surprising the older man. "Remus. It's ok. He's going to live. That's all that matter, right?" He said grinning lopsidedly again. But Remus saw something in his blue eyes. "You're hurt." Fred nodded glumly, removing his hands. "Yeah, we all are, to some degree. It's just... what happened to George, none of us could've expected it, mate. It was Snape's bloody fault. Not yours. I don't blame you one bit. Neither does George." Remus held back the retort he was going to say with a bit of his tongue. Instead, he pulled Fred into a hug. "Blimey, Remus. I don't usually hug... oh wait. No, I like this. Do me a favour, and don't move." Remus couldn't help but smile as he held Fred comfortingly. After about five seconds of this, Fred's shoulders began to shake slightly. Remus ignored it, for Fred's sake, until he heard a small, badly concealed, sniffle. Remus laid a hand on the back of Fred's head, pressing the Weasley's face into he crook between his shoulder and neck. Remus felt his neck get slightly wet. "He's going to be ok, Fred." Remus felt Fred nod, then take a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah I know that." He said, barely above a whisper. "It's just, for over nineteen years, we've been identical. Always identical. And now, now that safety, that precaution, that certain something that we had, is gone. It's like, three hours ago, we were Fred and George. And now it's like we're Fred. And. George. Two separate people. And that hurts, Remus." Remus felt a pang of guilt for making the happy-go-lucky man feel this way. Despite Fred's acceptance and reassurance, Remus still felt entirely responsible. If only he'd not been such a chicken and raised his wand arm to fight back... George might still have two ears. Remus shoved the thought aside and wrapped his arms tighter around Fred, comfortingly, almost protectively. "I know, Fred. I know. But now we have to think about how we're going to go forwards with this. It's just an ear, Fred. It could have been much, much worse." Remus' heart lurched a little at that, but Fred spoke no more. They stood in the near silence, only broken by the odd sniffle from Fred or the shuffling of positions, locked in a tight embrace, until Fred pulled away. "Even though you're my ex-DADA Professor, that didn't feel weird at all." Fred said, smiling sheepishly. Remus chuckled slightly, guiding Fred back into the living room, where George had managed to lighten the mood slightly. Thankfully, Molly has stopped the bleeding coming from the side of his head, and cleaned the blood that matted his hair. Fred immediately walked over to his twin, resuming his position in the chair beside George's head. The twins looked at each other's appearing to have a conversation that consisted entire of eyebrow wiggles and strange facial expressions then, as one, they burst into roaring laughter. Remus, Tonks, Molly, Arthur, Ginny and Fleur, who were the only ones left in The Burrow (Harry, Ron and Hermione were still outside, So was Hagrid) turned to them in surprise. Even with the loss of an ear and a life, they were still laughing. Remus smirked, struggling to contain his own laughter. Tonks, his beautiful wife, and Fleur seemed to be doing the same. Then, Ginny started giggling, attempting to muffle the sound with her hand. Fred and George laughed gloriously, and they didn't look like they'd be stopping any time soon. Identical looks of pure glee adorned their faces, making Remus chuckle. Hearing the sound, Molly chuckled. Then Ginny giggled again, Arthur snickered, Fleur giggled, Remus chuckled again, then Tonks burst into loud laughter. This ticked Remus. He, too, burst into laughter, his ribs and cheekbones aching. Soon enough, the whole room was filled with erupting laughter, cheerfulness repelling every negative force and feeling felt throughout the night. Everything was forgotten, the Battle, George's lost ear, the loss of Mad-Eye. All of it was pushed aside for a few minutes of sheer glory and triumph at their success at outsmarting Voldemort and his Dean Eaters. We're going to be ok. Remus thought, as he struggled to breathe through laughing. George is going to be ok.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed. This is only a one-Shot though, so it won’t be continued. Kudos, Revies and requests always welcome :)


End file.
